The government has accepted an offer of support vehicles from BMW Asia and Auto Lao to service the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and associated meetings in Vientiane next week.
An official handover ceremony for the vehicles was held on Tuesday in Vientiane attended by Minister and Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Phet Phomphiphak.
The 60 vehicles from BMW Asia and Auto Lao will be amongst over 300 from private Lao companies and government organisations being utilised for the major events in the capital.
Deputy Minister and Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Khamlavanh Chanthalavanh told media on Tuesday ahead of the handover ceremony that 40 new BMW 7 Series and 20 BMW 5 Series vehicles would be available to service ASEAN leaders and delegates meeting from September 6-8.
He said the government decided to accept vehicle support from various private companies as it was saving the nation money which could be used for other important projects.
It’s good that many people and companies are assisting Laos in hosting these major international meetings without the use of the government budget, he added.
Managing Director of BMW Group Asia, Mr. Axel Pannes said BMW was proud to be associated with the ASEAN Summits for the fifth consecutive year in a row and the region was very important for the BMW Group.
President of Kolao Group (Auto Lao), Dr Khamkhan Naphavong said it was an honour to be the official limousine for the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits in Laos.
We pride ourselves in offering our customers the highest levels of comfort, luxury and safety and hope attending leaders and delegates will enjoy the same when travelling in our fleet of BMW limousines throughout the event, he said.
The 28th ASEAN Summit will discuss ASEAN Community building efforts especially the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the way forward, while the 29th ASEAN Summit will focus discussion on ASEAN’s external relations and future directions as well as exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest and concern.
The ASEAN+1 Summits will review cooperation, discuss future directions and exchange views on regional and international issues.
The 19th ASEAN Plus Three (China-Japan-Republic of Korea) Summit and the 11th EAS, a forum of Leaders from 18 countries (10 ASEAN Member States, China, Japan, India, Republic of Korea, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and United States) will review and discuss the future direction of cooperation with ASEAN as well as exchange views on regional and international issues.
Source: Vientiane Times
